The present invention relates to devices for denying access of unauthorized vehicles to secure, protected areas, compounds, ground and multi-level garages, parking lots, rental car facilities, etc.
Devices of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. However, the majority of these devices require permanent installation for permanent traffic control and rely on their weight, size and mass to dissipate kinetic energy of a car bomb and the like. The known devices are very heavy and require handling equipment for deployment and redeployment. These devices can be subdivided into passive devices which do not have to be activated in any way and cannot be used for temporary control of traffic and active devices which require actions by personnel or equipment to deploy and therefore permit selective entry. Active barriers normally require a power source for their operation and are activated automatically by sensors or manually by sentries or security personnel using remote switches.
A passive vehicle barrier system has some disadvantages. In particular, it requires a lot of time to set it into position and cannot be used for selective vehicle access. A greater need has been identified in the last years in the area of temporary traffic control than in the area of permanent traffic control. As a result, man portable vehicle barriers became available for use so that they can be deployed and taken away on a short notice by a few people. Examples of such barriers are erectable fences, steel cable barriers, wire jacks, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,282 discloses a quickly erectable vehicle barrier for use across a roadway, with the utilization of large massive and bulky frame with the apparatus for inflation of an air bag and spreading the net across the vehicle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,818,137, 4,923,327 and 4,759,655 disclose a terrorist vehicle arresting system which has a turnstile with a sector for deflection of a terrorist vehicle into a crash barrier, and also a nut for a vehicle entrapment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,020 discloses a terrorist vehicle barrier which has at least two upright supports and a cable means to provide a barrier between the supports, as well as a shock absorbing block. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,130 discloses a road block apparatus adapted to assist officers of the law to pursue or capture drivers of stolen or get-away cars, which has a rupture-resisting plastic sheet panel suspended between a pair opposed posts, and a rope.
The above mentioned devices require a lot of time for installation, they cannot be transported and installed just by two people, they are not mobile, they can be easily crashed by a vehicle intruder, they are designed only for roadways, most of them cannot be installed on a very short notice, and they cannot prevent penetration of vehicle intruder in security zones.